Comms Dealer

A new study from Juniper Research predicts that at least 1 in 3 home routers will be used as public Wi-Fi hotspots by 2017, and that the total installed base of such dual-use routers will reach 366 million globally by the end of 2020.

The new research - Wi-Fi Hotspots: Deployment Strategies & Forecasts 2016-2020 - noted that these so-called 'homespot' routers essentially create two wireless networks separated by a firewall: one network is for private use whilst the other is offered as a public Wi-Fi hotspot by the broadband operators.

Major broadband operators such as BT, UPC, and Virgin Media in Europe and several of the biggest cable TV operators in the US such as Comcast and Cablevision, have adopted the homespot model as a low-cost way of rapidly expanding their domestic Wi-Fi coverage.

The research pointed out that the rapid expansion of Wi-Fi in this way is also giving rise to a number of global Wi-Fi aggregators such as iPass, which leases its network on a wholesale basis to such as telcos, cable operators, and corporate customers.

The research argued that broadband services were not necessarily making it clear to consumers that their home routers were in effect supporting public Wi-Fi initiatives. It cautioned that when consumers become aware of this dual-use, there was the real possibility of a backlash.

"While most operators now allow consumers to opt-out, if they so wish, most consumers simply have no idea that their routers are being used in this way," said research author, Gareth Owen. "Given the current concerns around privacy and data security, the realisation that home routers can be accessed by complete strangers is unlikely to be viewed in a positive light."

Nevertheless, the research highlighted the consumer benefits that the policy offers, such as free or reduced-fee access to the operator's homespot network.

Vodafone has established a global unit targeting digital security for its enterprise customers. Vodafone Enterprise Security Services (VESS) will roll up the company's existing security products under new area CEO Simon Church, previously CEO at NTT Security.

The group will cooperate with a number of strategic security partners and target areas such as cloud-based protection, network perimeter management, threat detection and response, and an assessment/advisory practice dealing with policy development, risk management and compliance.

Equinix has revamped its training and certification programme to offer two levels of certification targeted at managed service providers, network service providers, system integrators and solution providers.

Equinix added more than 350 partners in 2015 and the new changes to its channel engagement operation aim to build on this momentum.

Notable partners that have joined the global programme since its launch include Avant, Dimension Data, Hanu, KBQuest and VMtech.

Equinix has strategic partnerships with cloud service providers including AWS, Cisco, Google Cloud Platform, IBM SoftLayer, Microsoft Azure, NetApp, and Oracle.

Imago ScanSource's policy of nurturing home grown talent has again come to fruition with the appointment of Maryam Arbabi (pictured) as Head of Products and Marketing UK and Nick Waldeck as Head of Southern UK Sales

Arbabi joined the company over seven years ago as an Internal Account Manager on the sales team and worked her way up to Sales Manager for the south west region. 

Part of her remit was to implement marketing and sales promotion programmes for vendors and to run business growth campaigns in association with resellers.

Waldeck came to Imago ScanSource in 2005 working in the marketing department and has since held a number of roles including product management with responsibility for developing key manufacturers.

He later moved into a sales role and was named Top Sales Person of The Year before becoming Sales Manager for the south east area.

James Vickerage, VP for UK&I, said: "Maryam and Nick are two of the company's rising stars. Our strategy is to develop our best talent and to promote from within wherever possible."

The CBI is to make the economic case to remain in the EU having reaffirmed a strong member mandate in an independent survey by polling company ComRes.

The majority of CBI member companies, which together employ nearly 7 million people (about one third of private sector employees) believe that it would be in the best interests of their business and the wider UK economy to remain inside the EU.

The survey revealed 80% of CBI members believe that the UK remaining a member of the EU would be best for their business. Overall, 5% say it is in their firms' best interests for the UK to leave the EU, with 15% unsure.

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said: "The message from our members is resounding, most want the UK to stay in the EU because it is better for their business, jobs and prosperity.

"Walking away makes little economic sense and risks throwing away the many benefits we gain from being part of the EU.

"Our members tell us that having guaranteed access to a tariff-free market of 500 million people, and to more than 30 global trade deals covering 50 countries, are significant advantages that outweigh the frustrations.

"A minority of members want to leave the EU. We will continue to respect and reflect their views and campaign for EU reform to get a better deal for all businesses.

"However, most CBI members are unconvinced that alternatives to full membership would offer the same opportunities. We have yet to see those who seek to leave the EU present a compelling vision of what this would mean for jobs and growth.

"We will not align ourselves with any campaign. Though prosperity, jobs and future living standards matter to many people, we recognise there will be other considerations. It is not our place to tell people how to vote, but the CBI will play its role in making the economic case for remaining in the EU."

Cyber security VAD Exclusive Networks is growing its distribution agreement with BlackBerry into Benelux, DACH and the UK following successes in Australia and the Nordic region.

Exclusive Networks will now offer the full BlackBerry enterprise software portfolio as part of its services, which includes among others the recently introduced Good Secure EMM Suites by BlackBerry, a set of mobile security, management, productivity and collaboration offerings.

Barrie Desmond, COO at Exclusive Group, said: "This represents exciting new opportunities for the channel as customers strive to achieve maximum productivity and security for all their mobilised applications and data from a single platform."

Carl Wiese, President Global Sales at BlackBerry, added: "BlackBerry and Exclusive Networks have made a great team in Australia and the Nordics, and we're confident about extending our partnership across more territories."

plan.com just missed out on a semi-final place in KPMG's first seven-a-side charity soccer tournament on the Isle of Man in support of Wish Upon A Dream.

The charity grants wishes for sick and terminally ill children living on the island and in a show of support 12 teams battled to lift the trophy, including representations from PokerStars, SMP, Barclays, Appleby and Baker Tilly.

plan.com team captain and Marketing Manager Simon Jennings said: "The tournament was a great success with such a brilliant turn out of teams and local support. In this case, it wasn't just about winning."

Nimans is stocking the Polycom RealPresence Debut, a video conferencing and collaboration solution for small meeting rooms and huddle spaces.

Nimans' Head of Conferencing Sales, Ian Brindle, said: "Using Polycom's enhanced HD audio with NoiseBlock technology, audio is clear, distracting background noises are removed and voice quality sounds as real as being there.

"RealPresence Debut uses a specially-designed camera with a wide field of view and flexible pan and tilt adjustments, ideal for spaces that are sometimes wider than they are deep.

"Integrated stereo microphones are optimised to capture every voice equally in smaller spaces, or add an optional extension microphone for even greater pickup.

"The Polycom RealPresence Debut can be up and running within minutes."

The adoption of health monitoring devices will nearly treble by 2020, exceeding 70 million worldwide, up from an estimated 26 million this year. 

That's according to a new study by Juniper Research that says the use of monitoring devices will witness a swift rise as new entrants gain FDA (Food & Drug Administration) approval.

However, it highlights the need for new entrants to prove that their hardware is able to measure health indicators with the same accuracy as standard medical devices.

The research argues that greater consumer affinity with connected monitoring devices will in turn be accompanied by an upsurge in the adoption of mobile and cloud health platforms such as Apple Health and Google Fit.

Furthermore, it claims that the 'Big Data' collected by such monitoring devices presents a significant medium term opportunity for platforms such as IBM Watson Health Cloud.

These already offer greater insight into health information and enable more efficient decision making through data analytics.

The research also argued that with companies, such as Illumina, now mapping a large number of individuals' genomes, healthcare providers will increasingly have access to unique sets of genomic information.

This will offer the potential for healthcare providers to offer personalised plans based on that individual's genetic traits and susceptibility to diseases such as cancer, including treatments which have previously achieved positive results when delivered to patients with similar genomes.

Other findings from the research include: Heightened accuracy from the latest iteration of monitoring devices will lead to a fourfold increase in the number of individuals being monitored by 2020.

Interoperability with personal smartphone devices will add further value for the patient.??While the number of individuals using mHealth information services is expected to increase from 60 million this year to 150 million by 2020.

Growth is constrained by the lack of viable business models underpinning the operations in many developing markets.

Six Degrees Group (6DG) raised over £30k for charity WeSeeHope on its second annual ski trip, which forms part of its CSR programme called Six Degrees of Hope.

6DG hosted a party of 30 executives and friends in St Moritz, Switzerland, on the three day trip.

WeSeeHope supports orphans and other vulnerable children living in extreme poverty in southern and eastern Africa, and works with 26 local project partners in 222 communities.

Six Degrees of Hope has now raised over £330k for WeSeeHope in just four and a half years, with £100,000 raised alone in 2015.

To build on the fundraising activities so far this year two of the 6DG team will run the London Marathon in April, another will take part in the London2Brighton Challenge in May, and a 400km cycle across Malawi is on the fundraising map.

Alastair Mills, CEO of 6DG and Ambassador for WeSeeHope, stated: "This year's trip was the usual mix of great skiing and memorable apres-ski, with a fantastic group of like-minded friends and colleagues from the UK technology space.

"We had the added thrill of the St Moritz bobsleigh run, but even that was topped by the incredible generosity of our guests who together raised a remarkable £30k.

"That money will be spent wisely, helping to give new hope to young people in sub-Saharan Africa."